Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533
The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (
History
The Act abolished Peter's Pence and all other payments to Rome and accorded to the Archbishop of Canterbury the power to issue dispensations formerly given by the Pope. The fees which might have been charged for the dispensations were set and required royal assent, confirmed by the Great Seal of the Realm, in matters for which the usual fee was over £4.
On the 12 March 1534 the Commons passed the Bill and were possibly responsible, argues Lehmberg, for the clauses which claimed that the Act should not be read as a decline from the "very articles of the catholic faith of Christendom".
When the Bill came to the Upper House some clauses were added in the second and third reading. The Bill was passed on the 20 March after the fourth reading and after the Commons assented to the new clauses immediately. On the final day of the session, however, one more clause was added: the King would have the power at any period before 24 June to abrogate the complete Act or just a section of it as he so wished. Lehmberg puts forth the idea that Henry VIII still wanted some leverage in bargaining with the Pope after the French King recently attempted to reconcile Henry with Pope Clement VII.[6] The final clause was never used as the French mission did not succeed.
Provisions
Preamble
The preamble is noteworthy because it is written in the form of a petition from the
The preamble was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Section 1
This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Section 2
This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Section 5
This section (which amongst other things had the effect of requiring faculties to be registered by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery) does not apply in relation to any faculty granted to a public notary.[7]
Section 7
The words at the end of this section were repealed by section 4(a) of the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Section 11
As to this section, see section 5 of the Public Notaries Act 1843.
In this section (which relates to refusal of archbishop to grant licences etc.) any reference to the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal (however expressed) is to be read as a reference to the Chancellor of the High Court. The Chancellor of the High Court may nominate another judge of that court to exercise his functions under this section.[8]
Section 15
This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Section 16
This section was repealed by section 13 of, and Part I of Schedule 4 to, the Criminal Law Act 1967.
Section 19
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Section 20
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Section 21
This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Section 22
This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.
Section 23
This section was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969.
Saving
The repeal by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 of section 2 of the Act of Supremacy (1 Eliz 1 c 1) (1558) does not affect the continued operation, so far as unrepealed, of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533.[9]
Repeal in the Republic of Ireland
This Act was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by sections 2(1) and 3(1) of, and Part 2 of Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.
Notes
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ These words are printed against this Act in the second column of Schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948, which is headed "Title".
- ISBN 978-0-11-840509-6. Part I. Page 43, read with pages viii and x.
- ^ Stanford E. Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 1529-1536 (Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 191.
- ^ Lehmberg, p. 192.
- ^ Lehmberg, p. 192.
- ^ The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, section 57(10)
- ^ The Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 15(1) and paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 4. This has effect from 3 April 2006: SI 2006/1014, art 11(a).
- ^ The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969, section 4(2)
References
- Stanford E. Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 1529 - 1536 (Cambridge University Press, 1970).
- Halsbury's Statutes,
External links
- The Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533, as amended, from the National Archives.
- List of repeals in the Republic of Ireland from the Irish Statute Book.